Temperance legislation of general application had been enacted by the various colonies as early as 1855, when New Brunswick implemented total prohibition to mixed success.
In Ex parte O'Neill, RJQ 24 SC 304,[4] it was held that the Legislative Assembly of Quebec could not repeal the Dunkin Act, but it could pass a concurrent statute for regulating liquor traffic within the province.
[6] The provinces continued to enact temperance legislation after the establishment of Canadian Confederation in 1867.
[7] The Parliament of Canada shortly followed afterwards with the passage of the Scott Act, which offered local option within a national scheme,[8] followed in 1883 by the McCarthy Act, named after its sponsor, Dalton McCarthy, and its national licensing system.
[8][d] In 1917, provision was made to suspend the operation of the Act if provincial temperance legislation was determined to be as restrictive in application.